Local News

The month of August will begin much the same way the month of July did -- hot. The National Weather Service has posted a Heat Advisory for Southern Oregon and Northern California that runs from Thursday afternoon through Friday night. High temperatures from the upper 90s to 105 with overnight lows from the upper 50s to upper 60s are expected in Jackson, Josephine, eastern Curry and central Douglas counties in Oregon as well as Siskiyou County, California. Areas under the advisory include the Rogue, Applegate, Illinois and Umpqua valleys including the cities of Medford, Ashland, Phoenix, Talent, Eagle Point, Grants Pass, Cave Junction and Roseburg. Hot temperatures may cause heat illness. Certain medications may make you more vulnerable to heat illness. Check with your doctor or pharmacist for details. Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors -- especially the elderly. Take extra precautions when outside. Wear lightweight and loose-fitting clothing. Try to limit strenuous outdoor activities to early morning or evening. Take action when you see symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent rest breaks in shaded or air-conditioned environments.

 

US Senator Jeff Merkley has announced that he secured critical investments in Oregon transportation, affordable housing, economic development and public safety in the second set of Fiscal Year 2025 government spending bills to pass the committee -- a key first step on the road to becoming law. Merkley helped to make sure the investments -- including nearly $43 million for 27 critical community-initiated projects across the state -- were incorporated into the spending package. Locally, Merkley -- along with Senator Ron Wyden -- secured $2 million for the Rogue Valley Transit District to replace six gasoline-powered paratransit vehicles, $2 million for Umpqua Community College's efforts to boost affordable housing for students, and $2.25 million to Jackson County for its Sheriff's Office Communications Equipment Upgrade. Merkley is the only Oregon member of Congress from either chamber since Senator Mark Hatfield to serve on the Appropriations Committee, which is one of the most powerful on Capitol Hill. He joined the committee in 2013 so that Oregon would have a strong voice in decisions about investments the nation should be making.

 

The Grants Pass & Josephine County Chamber of Commerce is hosting the 4th Annual Lemonade Day on Friday from 3 to 6 p.m.. Over 200 participants have signed up for the program this year. There will be lemonade stands set up throughout Grants Pass and surrounding areas, helping to create the next generation of business experts. These young entrepreneurs will be selling their final product -- lemonade. Prizes will be given for the best product and most creative stand. There will also be a chance for the public to vote for the People's Choice. Throughout the course of this program, youngsters learn how to start, own and operate their own business -- a lemonade stand. They learn business skills, financial literacy, goal-setting and teamwork. This experience helps spark an explosion of new confidence in their abilities and a new vision of the possibilities for the future. Many stands will be located in Historic Downtown Grants Pass in partnership with the First Friday Art Stroll. Check out the locations of all the lemonade stands at "lemonadeday.org/grants-pass/stands-map."

 

The Josephine County Board of Commissioners is scheduled to take care of two routine items during its weekly business session tomorrow morning. The Board will open the meeting with a public hearing on an annexation to the Josephine Community Library District by petition of the landowner. Under Administrative Actions, the Commissioners will consider an order that confirms the Sheriff's Property Sale of July 17th and authorizes distribution of the proceeds from that sale. This will be the first business session for newly-appointed Commissioner Andreas Blech who was chosen to finish out the term of former Commissioner Dan DeYoung who resigned from the Board on July 15th. Wednesday's public meeting begins at 9 a.m. in the Anne G. Basker Auditorium.

 

The Josephine County Sheriff's Office jailed a Sunny Valley man early yesterday for threatening a Ready Ride driver with a gun. The Sheriff's Office reports deputies arrested the 45-year-old male subject in the 700-block of Placer Road on Monday at 11:24 a.m.. Deputies said a Ready Ride driver was following his navigation system to pick up a client when it took him to the wrong driveway. The driver was confronted by a resident who knocked on his window and complained about him driving too fast. The driver locked the doors and the man kept yelling at him. As the driver began to pull away, the man pulled out a gun and pointed at his head. The entire incident was recorded on the vehicle's camera. Upon arrival, deputies reviewed the camera footage and the suspect was placed into custody after admitting to the incident. He was transported to Grants Pass and lodged at the Josephine County Jail for Unlawful Use of a Weapon and Menacing.

 

The Oregon State Police arrested a Grants Pass felon who fled from an attempted traffic stop on Redwood Highway in the Illinois Valley early yesterday. OSP reports troopers tried to stop a Honda Civic driven by a 36-year-old male subject near milepost 32 of US Highway 199 on Monday at 8:22 a.m.. Troopers said they observed the subject from a prior eluding incident and tried to pull him over. The man immediately crashed his car on the shoulder, bailed out and fled from the vehicle on foot. A foot pursuit was initiated and the man was apprehended without further incident. According to OSP, a criminal amount of methamphetamine and a hand-held Taser were found in the suspect's possession. The drugs and weapon were seized. The suspect was lodged at the Josephine County Jail for Attempt to Elude Police and the resulting Felony Parole Violation. Charges of Felon in Possession of a Weapon and Possession of Meth were referred to the District Attorney's Office for consideration. He was being held without bail and his car was impounded.

 

The Oregon State Police arrested a Grants Pass woman on an out-of-state fugitive warrant while investigating a complaint near Murphy last night. According to OSP, troopers were dispatched to a call for service regarding possible menacing near milepost 8 of Williams Highway on Monday at 6:11 p.m.. During the course of the investigation, troopers contacted a 39-year-old female subject who was found to be wanted on an out-of-state felony warrant for failing to appear in court for an unspecified crime. She was immediately placed into custody. The suspect was transported to Grants Pass and lodged at the Josephine County Jail on the warrant and she was being held on $250,000 bail. It wasn't clear whether the warrant was extraditable. The state where she was wanted was not disclosed.

 

Grants Pass Police arrested a well-known criminal offender for an outburst in the Allen Creek Shopping Center early yesterday. According to the Police Department, officers were alerted to a trespassing call involving the 35-year-old female subject at the Dutch Bros stand in the shopping center on Tuesday shortly after 7 a.m.. Police said the woman was yelling at employees and customers at Dutch Bros before she was warned for trespassing and walked next door to McDonalds. But as officers drove away, she returned to Dutch Bros and started yelling again. Officers returned and told the woman she was under arrest, but she physically resisted by twisting her torso and pulling her arms away to prevent them from placing her into custody. She was eventually subdued, handcuffed and lifted into the back of a patrol vehicle due to her continued resistance. The suspect was lodged at the Josephine County Jail for Resisting Arrest and 2nd-Degree Criminal Trespass. She was being held without bail.

 

A late night disturbance in downtown Grants Pass led to the arrest of a well-known criminal offender on a local felony warrant. Grants Pass Police responded to a male subject yelling at the corner of SE 6th and G streets on Monday at 11:08 p.m.. Officers contacted a 30-year-old man whom they knew from numerous police contacts. A routine records check showed that he was wanted on a Grants Pass felony warrant for failing to appear in court for Unlawful Use of a Weapon. The suspect was placed into custody and lodged in jail on the outstanding warrant.